There’s nothing worse than back pain. It can stop you in your tracks and make day-to-day life pretty miserable.
If you’re looking for some relief there is something you can do. There is a natural way you can give yourself some relief. There are acupressure points on the body for back pain and learning how these points work can help you manage any discomfort you are experiencing.
What Are Acupressure Points?
Anytime you smack a random body part against a counter edge or coffee table what do you do? You instinctively start to rub it and this is a way to provide some pressure, and ultimately, some relief. This is basically what acupressure is but when it’s done properly, it involves applying pressure to various points on the body usually with the fingertips.
Acupressure is nothing new and has been around for thousands of years. It has a lot of roots in Chinese medicine with the point being to restore balance in the body. You can think of the body like a house wired for electricity and the acupressure points are like the electrical outlets. The easiest example to picture this is the temples and how people will find themselves rubbing them when trying to relieve a headache.
When you put force on these pressure points, it releases endorphins in the body and this is the feel-good chemical. It also releases serotonin, and this, combined with the endorphins, act as a natural painkiller.
The body has hundreds of these pressure points and various areas of the body may affect unrelated parts. Some treatment for migraines can involve the rubbing of the feet but many parts may be connected.
When looking at issues with the back specifically, here are 4 acupressure points for back pain.
1. The Hands
The hands are one of those areas that can connect with another – especially the back. The part you want to focus on is the point between your thumb and forefinger. We call this area LI-4 and not only can it reduce back pain but pain all over the body – even headaches.
You’ll want to use your thumb to apply pressure and hold for around ten seconds before releasing for five. You can repeat this at least three times and see if it gives you any relief. I use this all the time for headaches and it always seems to provide some relief.
2. On The Inside Of The Forearm
Another area that’s not the back, but will have some connections to it. The area you want to focus on is called LU 6, and it will be on the inside of your arm halfway between your elbow and your wrist. It will be closer to the elbow and to find it exactly, you’re looking for an area around 2-3 inches from where you elbow flexes.
If you are experiencing back pain on the left side, you will want to use your left arm and vice versa. Using your thumb, you will apply pressure for around 30 seconds before releasing for a few seconds and repeating three to four times. You can continue this process over 5-10 minutes depending on the level of pain to see how it will feel.
3. The Hips
There are various acupressure points around the hips that play a role in dealing with back pain. The first one is called B 48, and they are located a few inches to the left and right of the tailbone and just above those dimples above your glutes on the lower back. Using your thumb, you’ll want to push down gradually towards the center of your pelvis and this time you will hold for at least a minute – but you can go for a couple.
You might need someone to help you with this but using a tennis or lacrosse ball is a common way of providing pressure to these points on your own. These pressure points will help with low back pain, pelvic pain, and hip pain. The other part of the hips you want to target is a few inches lower and more outward to the B 48 pressure points you just used. You are now at the more fleshy part of the glutes and we call the area you’re targeting G 30.
It may be a bit more difficult to find the specific area so you might have to vary your thumb positioning to find the best pressure point. Using the thumb, you will push down and inward, more towards the center of the glutes, and also hold for a few minutes. This will be helpful in relieving sciatica pain, along with lower back pain.
4. Throughout The Back
There are a few acupressure points here and they will be more in the lower back – but just above the hips. The first area will be B 23 and B 47 points. This will be closer to the spine and no matter where you may experience back pain, these pressure points are seen to help with it. The most accurate way to find these areas is the spot that’s a few inches to the left and right of the 3rd lumbar vertebrae.
If you’re just eyeballing it, this will be the area just above the level of your hip bones. For the B 23, you’ll be just outside the spine on the left or the right of it and the B 47 will be another inch laterally past that.
You’ll be pressing these points with your thumb for a few minutes and these areas can help relieve low back pain, pinched nerves, and also sciatica. It can help to have someone do this but it’s also possible to just reach around your own back to apply pressure to those areas. This is also where you can make use of a tennis ball to get more control over the pressure and get to the specific areas.
Final Thoughts On Acupressure Points For Back Pain
Before you turn to medication or anything like that you should consider using these pressure points to deal with any pain you’re experiencing. If things get severe, this is when you want to consult with a physiotherapist or chiropractor to identify if there are more serious problems going on. But since a lot of back pain is more mechanical in nature, you can reduce the pain naturally and even prevent it in the future while doing so.
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